Women's Tennis thumps IUP to return to Final Eight

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

DENVER — St. Mary's Women's Tennis has put itself in a familiar position — very familiar, in fact.

The 12th-ranked Rattlers beat No. 38 Indiana (Pa.) 5-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Championships on Wednesday, catapulting themselves into the Final Eight for the second straight season.

And for the second straight season, BYU-Hawaii now stands in the way of St. Mary's first-ever trip to the Final Four.

"We're now a team that is known," senior star Cristina Lopez said of the Rattlers advancing to the Final Eight for the second consecutive season. "We feel like it's our right to be here. We feel respected. That showed today, that we can pull through."

The Rattlers will face BYU-Hawaii, the nation's top-ranked team, at 9 a.m. (CT) Thursday morning on the Metro State campus.

St. Mary's (21-3) jumped on IUP (22-5) from the start, taking a 2-1 lead into singles play after crushing its opponent in Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Lopez and Hannah Petersen, the nation's 22nd-ranked doubles team, won 8-0; while Ally Maciel/Mariela Sarinana were nearly as dominant, prevailing 8-2, at the Gates Tennis Center.

The Rattlers' No. 1 doubles team of Jamie Lee Denton/Kaylin Kruseman, ranked No. 17 nationally, were edged 8-5 — but turned around and used the defeat as fuel for their fire in a dominant singles showing.

St. Mary's took the first set in all six singles pairings, with Tyra Timm winning the No. 4 slot 6-1, 6-2 to give the Rattlers a commanding 3-1 lead. Hannah Petersen won at No. 6 by the score of 6-1, 6-0, leaving St. Mary's a single point away from clinching the match — which Kaylin Kruseman sealed moments later with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 3 for the team win.

Lopez was leading 6-3, 5-2 at No. 2 when the match finished, while Maciel was up 7-5, 4-1 at No. 5. Denton was in the third set, having won the first set 6-1 before dropping the second set.

Having helped lead St. Mary's to the national tournament for the third straight season, Lopez noted the differences between then and now.

"Three years ago we just came in with big eyes," she said. "We didn't really know. We hadn't been there before. We thought, 'Wow, these teams are good.' The word is unsure. We were just unsure of everything."

Not the case any longer.

But perhaps even more telling than the attention their performance on the court has raised, Lopez said the academic award the team collectively won earlier this week best reflects the players' efforts.

"It shows how hard we work and how we all have respect for each other," said Lopez of winning the award, which was given to the Rattlers for having the highest team GPA of any women's tennis team at the national tournament. "Everyone is out there fighting for everybody."

Now, they'll look to take that fighting spirit against the very best in a BYU-Hawaii team that ended the Rattlers' season with a 5-1 triumph in the Final Eight of last year's national tournament.

"They're a great team," Denton said. "But our strength is doubles. If we can jump on them in doubles, which obviously Kaylin and I are looking for revenge (after losing Wednesday), then we can beat anybody.

"Our motto is that we're an amazing team. We're fighters. We play together."

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Players Mentioned

Jamie Lee Denton: 5' 8"; Senior

Kaylin Kruseman: 5' 4"; Sophomore

Cristina Lopez: 5' 1"; Senior

Tyra Timm: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Ally Maciel: 5' 3"; Freshman

Hannah Petersen: Freshman

Mariela Sarinana: 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Jamie Lee Denton
: 5' 8"; Senior

Kaylin Kruseman
: 5' 4"; Sophomore

Cristina Lopez
: 5' 1"; Senior

Tyra Timm
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Ally Maciel
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Hannah Petersen
: Freshman

Mariela Sarinana
: 5' 6"; Junior

St. Mary's University Athletics

Scoreboard

Women's Tennis thumps IUP to return to Final Eight

Players Mentioned

Jamie Lee Denton

Kaylin Kruseman

Cristina Lopez

Tyra Timm

Ally Maciel

Hannah Petersen

Mariela Sarinana

Players Mentioned

Jamie Lee Denton

Kaylin Kruseman

Cristina Lopez

Tyra Timm

Ally Maciel

Hannah Petersen

Mariela Sarinana

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